The present invention relates to an apparatus for connecting equipment. More particularly, the invention relates to an apparatus by which computer-related equipment, such as peripherals, may be attached to and detached from, for example, other peripherals or a central processing unit quickly and without the need for tools. Uniquely, the invention facilitates the connection between such equipment by the external manipulation of the housing of the apparatus.
Computer-related equipment, such as peripherals and central processing units, are generally linked to each other through signal cables. Attachment of the signal cables to the computer equipment is accomplished through a variety of devices, commonly termed interfaces. One type of interface includes leads or pins to which one or more of the many wires incorporated within the signal cable are attached. The ends of the pins are sized and shaped so that they may be snugly received in similarly sized and shaped receptacles aligned in a socket that is generally fixed in a wall of the computer equipment. The simple reception of the pins within the receptacles, however, does not secure the connection of the plug to the socket. The connection can be easily disrupted, such as by pumping the plug or by pulling on the cable.
Many means are known to secure the connection between the plug and the socket. One such securing means includes male elements--such as threaded bolts--carried in a housing in which the plug is fixed. The male elements are appropriately sized and shaped to be received within female elements--threaded in those embodiments in which the male element is threaded--associated with the socket. With such means, in order to secure the plug to the socket, and, thereby, the pins within the receptacles, the plug is positioned adjacent to the socket and such that male elements in the plug can be received--such as by threading--into the female elements in the socket.
Many means are known by which the threading of the male plug element into the female socket element is accomplished. In some housings, the male elements have heads opposite to the threaded ends. In these housings, the male elements are carried such that the heads project outward from a rear wall of the housing. The heads may have a surface configuration such that a user must use a tool, for example, a screwdriver or an allen wrench, to turn each of the male elements separately. In other housings, male elements are carried that have heads sized and shaped and that project from the housing such that a user must rotate each of the male elements by turning it by its head in order to connect the male element into the female elements.
Rotating the male element with the use of a tool or by hand is difficult generally because of the awkward position the male elements project from the housing. Typically, the male elements project from the back side of the housing--that is opposite to the side from which the plug pins are exposed--and to either side of the signal cable. It is difficult for a user to rotate the male elements by hand or with a tool given such a awkward position of the male elements.
In those housing embodiments in which a tool is needed to turn the male element, the tool is generally of a size that is proportional to the small size of the head. Such a small size tool can be difficult to manipulate, particularly for those users having larger fingers. Also, a small size tool can be easily lost.
Improper seating of the plug as it is being attached to the socket is a problem common to many known housing embodiments. In order to prevent the misseating of the plug within the socket, a user generally must cautiously rotate each male element alternately and only a limited amount each time. The amount that each male element can be rotated before the plug becomes misseated is empirically determined. This is a time consuming and not altogether fool proof task. Also, because each male element must be rotated alternately, the quick attachment of the plug to the socket is prevented.
In conventional housing designs, it is not always apparent when the male element is fully threaded into the female element and the user has actually begun to overtighten the male element. Overtorquing is a common problem. Particularly with a housing having a thin wall construction overtorquing can cause a failure of the housing material--such as cracking--around the male element. Overtorquing may also cause the shaft of the male element to fail.
In disconnecting known plugs from sockets, the amount that the male element can be backed out before it is completely separated from the housing is empirically determined also. This sometimes causes the male element to be inadvertently separated from the connector housing. Because of the generally small size of the male elements, male elements inadvertently separated from the housing can be easily misplaced or lost.
Other known connectors--while they operate such that the likelihood of damage to the plug housing or socket is minimized--are complicated structures whose cost to manufacture are, accordingly, greater. Connectors having a complicated, multi-component structure also tend to be less reliable than connectors having a simplified structure.
A demand therefore exists for a connector having a simplified structure by which a plug contained within a housing may be quickly connected to a socket without the need for tools and without damage to the housing, plug, or socket. The present invention satisfies the demand.
The present invention provides a connector by which electrical and mechanical connection between a plug and socket may be effected quickly and without the need for a tool. More specifically, the connector includes a housing in which the plug is fixed and having an outer surface that can manipulated by a user with one hand to rotate a plurality of threaded male elements carried within the housing in synchronized fashion so that uniform connection between the male elements and female elements associated with the socket can be effected. The means by which the manipulative force applied by the user is transmitted to rotate the male elements in synchronized fashion is of a simplified structure and prevents overtorquing of the male elements within the housing. The material from which the synchronized power transmission means is made may also be chosen to further facilitate the smooth transfer of power to the male elements and to further prevent any likelihood that damage will be caused to the housing from overtorquing. The housing may include also means by which the male elements may be retracted in those instances in which the socket does not include appropriately sized and shaped female elements to receive the male elements.
An object of the present invention is to provide a connector by which computer-related equipment may be quickly connected.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a connector for connecting a plug to a socket by rotating a plurality of male elements rotatably carried in a housing into appropriately sized and shaped female elements.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide a connector having means generally adjacent to whose outer surface that can be manipulated by a user which one hand to effect a connection.
Also, an object of the present invention is to provide a connector having a power transmission means such that a plurality of male elements within a housing can be turned in synchronized fashion.
An added object of the present invention is to provide a connector made from a material and of a structure such that a plurality of male elements can be secured to female elements without causing damage to the connector housing.
These together with other objects and advantages will become subsequently apparent from a reading of and reside in the details of construction and operation as more fully hereinafter described and claimed, reference being had to the accompanying drawings forming a part hereof, wherein like numerals refer to like parts throughout.